


Air Hockey and Feelings

by Magical_Persona



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:14:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29461827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Persona/pseuds/Magical_Persona
Summary: Donnie isn't the best with emotions, but when he can hear his twin crying it doesn't matter. He has to do something and there's nothing better than a little competition to trick Leo into talking.There was no beta for this one
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54





	Air Hockey and Feelings

Donnie had cameras set up throughout the lair. They had started as a simple intruder detection with only a few cameras at each entrance and had evolved to adding one in every common room. Which had then evolved to adding enough to capture every angle of each room in the house, save the bedrooms. He’d left Raph and Mikey’s rooms alone almost entirely, content to just have one pointed at each door so he knew who was leaving and entering.

Leo’s room was a different story. While he’d still kept it simple, he wasn’t about to entirely invade his twin’s privacy. The camera was pointed at the wall and really only captured audio and occasionally shadows. Only once had he caught Leo dancing in front of it, but there was nothing of black mail potential in that. It was no different than anything Leo would have done in the kitchen while Mikey was cooking.

While he’d hoped he’d get something he could use in the way of black mail, more often than not the footage was more like what that feed was showing tonight. The light was still on and even splinter’s snoring wasn’t enough to cover the small broken sobs his twin was trying to choke back. Even when Leo was alone he was a quiet crier. It was the one time he didn’t want attention on him.

Donnie looked at the screen for a moment. Should he go to his twin? That’s what he should be doing...right? But what if Leo didn’t want help? What if it was something Leo wanted to deal with on his own? Should he really just walk into his brother’s room? He could already hear Mikey scolding him for taking the time to think about it. Of course he needed to go check on their brother. It wasn’t good for people to be alone when they were sad.

He stood, stretching out his back after sitting hunched over his work table for so long. It didn’t take him long to get to Leo’s room. While the lair was huge, all the rooms were along the same hall, his being at the end due to the amount of chaos that could occur in the lair. His room was a buffer against it. Where as Leo, always wanting to be the center of attention wanted to be right next to the commotion.

“Leo,” Donnie’s voice was soft as he reached for the curtain hanging over the outcropping of a tunnel that made up Leo’s room. He didn’t pull the divider back, that would have been rude. “Leo, can I come in?”

There was some scrambling on the other side of the thin fabric before Leo pulled it back. “What’s up? Here for another late night game off? We can even start by racing to the arcade!”

The red-eared slider looked worse than some of the drones Donnie would find at the junkyard. Leo’s eyes were puffy and bloodshot, the smile he forced over his face was stiff and tight.

“I’m not sure you could handle me kicking your shell in a game of air hockey,” Donnie teased, relaxing slightly when he could see a small flicker of a competitive flame flash in his twin’s eyes.

“Oh you’re on!” Leo laughed, pushing Donnie out of the way, making a beeline for the arcade. “You’ve never beaten me at air hockey! I’m an air hockey champion.”

Donnie wasn’t about to remind Leo that Mikey technically held that title. Nor was he going to tell him he’d picked that game knowing what the results would be. Instead he followed his twin to the arcade at a much slower pace. By the time Donnie got there Leo was already hopping from foot to foot, hand on the paddle.

“I’ll even let you get the puck first, since there’s no way you’re going to win!” Leo’s laugh was still forced, but at least he was starting to seem more like himself.

Donnie merely rolled his eyes as the lights of the air hockey machine illuminated the red crescent moons on Leo’s face. In the dark light, with nothing but the cool blue and harsh white lights it was far easier to see the bags under the older twin’s eyes. There was no blue mask to hide just how exhausted Leo was.

“First to twenty?” Donnie asked as he grabbed his own paddle, relaxing into the sound of the air whirring through the cheap machine.

“Sure, if you don’t give up before then,” Leo taunted, dropping the puck in the center of the table. Some of the flare was returning to his movements as he flourished his hand, but it still lacked the energy that followed Leo around like a suffocating cloud. Donnie often suspected that energy was mostly forced, but it wasn’t entirely his place to question it. That was more Mikey or Raph’s area of expertise.

Three points to Leo later and the blue clad twin was bouncing in place, the tip of his nightcap swinging around his head. He pumped a fist into the air as he scored yet another point.

“Have you been practicing with Raph? You’re almost a challenge!” Leo said, slamming the puck in Donnie’s direction only for Donnie to slam the puck into the raised side. This sent the little orange disk bouncing all over the table.

Donnie watched the small puck, eyes tracking it as it raced toward his brother’s side and then back to his own. Leo seemed to have some energy back which meant if he was going to have any chance of getting information out of his twin it would be better to bring it up sooner rather than later.

He barely caught the puck before it could get to his goal, narrowly avoiding knocking it backwards into the slot himself. Donnie pushed it back to Leo before he trained most of his attention to his twin.

“Do you want to talk about why you were crying?” Donnie asked.

Leo was pointedly not looking at him as he played with the puck on his side of the table. The thin piece of plastic knocked back and forth between the table and his paddle. For a good while Leo was silent, seemingly content with the puck passing between the two of them. Neither of them really trying to score.

Slowly, Leo gained momentum. If there was one thing all of them had in common it was what Splinter had occasionally referred to as their warrior spirit. Donnie had long since figured out what that really translated to was: they were all just way too competitive. Once that competitive spark was lit only a victory was going to douse it. Which was exactly what Donnie had been counting on when he’d suggested air hockey. He knew Leo wouldn’t be able to walk away from an unfinished game.

He was sure Dr. Delicate touch would have called him cruel for the underhanded move, but Donnie couldn’t bring himself to care. As long as there were results and he could find some way to help his twin that’s all that mattered.

Though with silence he was receiving as Leo flung the puck in his direction implied his calculations weren’t as correct as Donnie would have liked. He quickly knocked the disk away from his goal, sending it spiralling in the opposite direction. It wasn’t until Donnie was fishing the puck out of his goal that Leo spoke.

“I’m useless,” Leo’s voice was so soft Donnie barely heard it over the whirring next to his ear.

Donnie looked at his twin, mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of anything he could say. This wasn’t the first time Leo had felt less than, not by a long shot. They all had, on more than one occasion. Raph’s fears and insecurities usually cropped up after one of them was hurt in a fight. Donnie’s usually came after his tech failed or couldn’t compare to what his brother’s could do.

“What makes you say that?” Donnie asked, eyes moving between his twin and the puck. As much as he was trying to gauge Leo’s expressions they were hard to see and he didn’t want the game to be over too soon. If he let it end he might not get as much information from his brother and he couldn’t just let Leo leave without helping him.

“Look at me,” Leo muttered harshly. “Everyone has a thing! Raph’s strong, Mikey can throw a freighter at an enemy. What can I do? Throw out a few one liners that no one likes and annoy all of you the minute we get home? Any time I try to do something cool I end up breaking things. I ruined your first version of Shelldon, broke the wifi--”

“That was an accident,” Donnie cut him off. “You were right to point out that it was in a high traffic area where skateboards could potentially be flying around. We learned and we moved it. There was no harm done. As for Shelldon, I think I like the version of him we have now. Sure, he’s on version thirteen point five, and a bit of a teenager, but I never would have upgraded him past the capabilities of an Alexa if you hadn’t rewired him.”

“Dad expects me to be the leader now,” Leo’s added. “How am I supposed to do that? Just tell Raph to step aside after he’s been keeping us from dying for what thirteen years now?”

“That’s not really a conversation to have with me,” Donnie hesitated. Leo was right, of course. Raph had been protecting them for as long as they could remember and knowing the snapping turtle he’d probably been protecting them while they were still babies in Draxum’s lab. “That’s something you and Raph have to talk about and sort between yourselves. You know, no matter what he’ll be there for you. He’s our brother first and our leader second.”

Leo nodded, looking at the puck that had made its way back to his side of the table. “I just wish I was better. It’s like I could train forever and never catch up to where the rest of you are.” He shook his head. “You and Mikey are the ones who need to be protected. I shouldn’t be the one holding everyone back.”

Donnie tried not to let that sting. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know his brothers were constantly looking over their shoulder to make sure his battle shells were working properly. He just didn’t like to be reminded of something he couldn’t change.

“You don’t hold us back,” Donnie assured him. “I know feeling weak sucks shell, but you’re not weak. None of us are,” he added firmly. “We all have different strengths and weaknesses, sure, but we’re not weak. If it makes you feel better, you mastered your weird magic weapon nonsense long before I did.”

“That’s because you think too much,” Leo teased with a small laugh. He was silent for a few more goals before shaking his head. “Feels stupid to cry over it now.”

“Please don’t wake Dr. Delicate Touch. It’s  _ way _ too early for that.” Donnie warned with a laugh.

Leo shot his brother a smile. This time it was real and Donnie couldn’t have been happier. Sure it was tired and weak, but at least it hadn’t been fake and forced for the sake of appearances.

“I couldn’t agree more.”


End file.
